Clothes-rack.



No. 630,430. Patented`Aug..8- |399.

w. wlLnERMuTH.

CLTHES RACK,

(Appljcation filed Feb. 28, 1899.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES i WILLIAM wILDnnMUTI-I, or ROCHESTER, INDIANA.

CLOTH ES-RACK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 630,430, dated August 8, 1899. Application lcd February 2S, 1899. Serial No. 707,245. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM WILDERMUTH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Fulton and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Rack, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to clothes-racks; and the object thereof is to provide a simple and eiicient rack which is adapted to support a large number of articles and may be folded back against the wall or othersupport out of the way when not required for use.

To these ends the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown inA the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the rack. Fig. 2 is an elevation thereof in folded position. Fig, 3 is a vertical sectional view.

Corresponding parts are designated by like reference-numerals in all the figures of the drawings. i

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 designates a supporting-bracket formed from a flat board inany preferred shape or design to give artistic merit thereto. Openings 2 are provided therethrough, near the top and bottom thereof, to receive suitable fastenings 3,whereby the bracket may be secured to the wall of a room or to any desired object. By reason of the bracket being flat it rests evenly againstthe surface to which it may be secured, and therefore remains firmly in position.

The lower end of the bracket is preferably rounded or arcuate transversely, as at t, and a bail 5 is pivoted to the opposite edges of the bracket and adapted to be swung downward and below the lower arcuate edge of the bracket, as indicated in Fig. 2. A transverse cleat 6 is provided upon the outer face of the bracket a suitable distance above the axial line of the bail. Secured to the bracket and above the cleat G, as at 7, is a spring-catch 8, which is inclined outward and downward across the outer edge of the cleat, passing through an eye 9, provided-upon the cleat. The outer extremity of the catch is bowed downward, forming an operating-handle 10 anda catch-shoulder l1. By reference to Fig. 3 it will be noted that the bail 5 is adapted to be thrown upward into a horizontal position, where it is engaged with the catch-shoulder 11 of the spring-catch S and held thereby when the device is in position for use.

A plurality of radial hanger-arms 12 are carried by the swinging bail 5. Each arm is of a suitable length and is provided near its inner end and upon its under side with a staple 13, which is adapted to embrace the bail and loosely mount the arm upon the same. The staple is of a size to permit of a longitudinal movement of the arm, as well as a transverse sliding and vertical swinging movement thereof, upon the bail. When the bail 5 has been thrown up into a horizontal position and engaged by the spring-catch 8, as heretofore described, the hanger-arms, which have been depending from the bail, are swung upward thereon and moved longitudinally backward until the inner ends thereof are engaged under the cleat 6, which forms a stop for the arms and holds the same extended in a horizontal position for use. The plane of the under face of the cleat 6 is at a distance above the horizontal plane of the bail equal to the thickness of the inner end of each arm, whereby the latter fits snugly beneath and against the under face of the stop-cleat and is conveniently and effectively held in place. One or more of the arms may be in use at the same time, and they may be adjusted laterally as desired, and when the bail is thrown downward, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the arms all slide to the center of the bail and rest dat against the surface to which the bracket is attached.

The eye 9 holds the spring-catch 8 rmly in its proper operative position, so that it is simply necessary to force the bail upward against the bowed portion l0 until the catch-shoulder 11 engages under the bail, and the latter is then held in position for use. It will thus be noted that the bowed portion lO of the springcatch serves a twofold purpose-viz., a'catchshoulder for engagement with the bail and a handle to be used in disengaging the springcatch from the bail when itis desired to drop the latter to the folded position of the device.

The stop-cleat G holds the catch-arm out from the bracket 1, and thereby retains it in position to engage the bail, as described, while the eye 9 prevents displacement of the catch.

By the combination and arrangement of the several parts of the present invention a simple and substantial clothes-rack is provided which may be hung up or attached in a great variety of places, is entirely out of the way when not in use, and 1n ay be quickly adjusted in a position for use as desired.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claim my be resorted to Without departing from the spirit or sacriicing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having th us described the invention, what is claimed is-` In a clothes-rack, the combination with a bracket having a iXe-d transverse stop-cleat projecting outwardly from the outer face thereof, of a bail pivoted transversely beneath the stop-cleat, a spring-catch adapted to hold the bail in a horizontal position and comprising a shank fastened at its upper end above the stop-cleat and to the bracket and inclined downwardly and outwardly across the outer edge of the stop-cleat, the lower free end of the shank being formed into a catch, an eye carried by the outer edge of the stop-cleat and receiving the shank whereby the latter is held in position, and a plurality of han ger-armspivoted to the bail and adapted to be engaged with the cleat to hold the arms in operative position, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM WILDERMUTH.

Witnesses:

ORBEA F. MONTGOMERY, MIci-IAEL L. EssIK. 

